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Economic surveys that rank geographic areas of the U.S. according to various measures of success are popular because they give us a way to see how we're doing compared with others.

They can also give us suggestions on how to help build and improve a consensus for action.

The latest, out this week, is from the Milken Institute and Greenstreet Real Estate Partners.

Their Best-Performing Cities index combines measures for growth in jobs, wages and technology industries to rank 200 large U.S. metropolitan areas and 124 small metro areas.

Atlantic City didn't do well. It dropped from 187th place last year to 192nd place for 2009.

Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton did a little better, moving up from 110 last year to 100 this year, but was still well toward the bottom of the small metro index.

The top-ranked cities, as is often the case in such surveys, are predominantly in the South and West. Of the top 25 large cities, 18 are in the South, six in the West, and one in the Midwest.

Texas, thanks to the high performance of the oil industry during the survey periods, captured four of the top five spots among large cities. North Carolina, with two large cities in the top 10, was about as close as a high performer got to the Northeast.

It's easy to discount the southern New Jersey's comparatively lower performance. Texas and North Carolina don't have our state's worst-in-the-nation business climate, our high wage base or our declining manufacturing sector. Businesses and jobs have been migrating south and west for a long time.

But it's harder to dismiss two New Jersey cities' improved performances - since they must cope with the state's disadvantages as well.

Newark moved up among the large Best-Performing Cities from 163rd to 142nd.

And Camden - Camden, a city the state needed to take over! - ranked 121st, down from 109th last year.

Understanding why they scored better on the Milken-Greenstreet test requires a deeper look into the data.

In job and wage growth from 2003 through 2008 - which the survey includes to smooth out spikes and dips - Atlantic City posted numbers nearly identical to Newark and only slightly worse than Camden.

But for one-year job growth (through March 2009) and wages (2007), Atlantic City fell significantly behind its fellow N.J. urban areas.

And on nearly all of the lower-weighted measures of technology - output, growth, and number and value of companies - Atlantic City got clobbered, compared with Newark and Camden. We were consistently no higher than 170th out of 200, and they often ranked between 30th and 80th.

The one technology measure in which Atlantic City beat its peers handily was one-year, high-tech economic growth from 2007 to 2008. It ranked 16th among 200, while Camden was an almost as impressive 33rd and Newark came in 122nd.

If that momentum can be continued, it would spill over into the other tech indicators and propel Atlantic City up the large city ranks.

Count this as another sign of the importance to Atlantic County and the region of succeeding with the NextGen Aviation Research Park, next to the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center in Galloway Township. The Milken-Greenstreet survey practically screams: If you want a bright economic future, make sure you have a tech component.

The Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton small metro area ranked better on technology overall but poorly on the one-year growth measure at 115th out of 124.

Considering that, you could reasonably say that the recently announced IPP Solar plant in Millville to make solar panels is exactly what's needed to counter the slow decline in the glass industry.

As always with such surveys, keep in mind that it's just one way to look at the data, and the results are determined by how those measures are weighted.

But economic self-knowledge of this kind might be the most helpful when it's a little painful. And there is this satisfaction: We seem to have to have set the right goals.

Now we just have to stay focused.

Contact Kevin Post:

609-272-7250

KPost@pressofac.com

1 comment:

• Jamesy (80) posts 9:05 am

  thats what happens when your number one industry is Wawa. Hey Kevin Post I'm really looking forward to your business outlook for 2010 after the holidays...lmao.

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